How to live someone else's life

The Memorial came up with a game with the Soviet period of history

Do we know the domestic story well? Do we often talk with children about historical events and personalities?

Even if the answer is affirmative, can you guarantee that much of the known to you is not a myth?

The historical and educational society “Memorial” created in the late 80s of the last century made its goals not only to perpetuate the memory of the victims of repression, but also to the struggle against historical mythology, and the restoration of historical truth.

At the annual book fair “Non Fiction” (held from November 29 to December 3, 2017) “Memorial” presents books and brochures prepared by its employees.

This year, visitors to the fair could see the exposition “first” - about the beginning of Soviet political repression - it was based on portraits and photographs of fifty people who became the first victims of Bolshevik terror.

New collections: “Right of correspondence”, which included stories from family archives about how, despite prohibitions and censorship, the connection between prisoners and their relatives was not interrupted; and “man in history”, compiled on the basis of diaries, letters and oral stories.

On the last day of the book Fair, the presentation of the 74 board game was also held. This is an intellectual game in Soviet history. 74 - the number of years that the Soviet regime lasted - from 1917 to 1991.

How did she appear? This is an amazing story.

The game was invented and drew back in the 80s of the last century. Who exactly is unknown. The idea arose in dissident circles. The writer Lyubov Cabo gave her for the birthday of Susanne Pechuro, the historian and human rights activist, who became one of the founders of the Memorial and his long -term employee. Later, the grandson of Susanna Pechuro Alexei Makarov was transferred to the Memorial Archive. There the game was lying on a shelf, until once the employees removed it to ... play. Then the game was shown to schoolchildren. And then the idea appeared that the game can be finalized, restore forgotten rules, and give it a new life. Alexey Makarov, a school teacher, as well as an employee of Memorial, and his young colleagues Natalya Baryshnikova and Nikita Lomakin took up this work.

The rules of the game were developed. 254 cards were drawn up (for two - for each year of the game cycle), in each of which are quotes from the diaries of people who were eyewitnesses or just contemporaries of the events of that time.

Each player first chooses a character. You can be a worker or a peasant. These classes of the characters are basic. Other classes: “military”, “Chekist”, “specialist” and “enemy of the people” are acquired during the game.

On the playing field, each player simultaneously passes along the “lines of life”, consisting of the events of the personal life of the chosen character, and along the general line of events from the country's life - “Lines of History”.

The player can increase or lower his social status, can fall under the horse, marry, get to the camp or die at the front, emigrate.

The player throws cubes and moves along the “lines of life” and along the “Line of History”. Thus, the character's biography is formed. Once for a particular year, the player opens a card with a quote. If during the game the character dies, the game continues on behalf of his children or grandchildren. Thus begins a new row and a new biography. The game ends when one of the players reaches the field next in 1991. At the end of the game, each participant tells the story of several generations of his game family.

It is noteworthy that the game aroused great interest among history teachers. According to Alexei Makarov, she perfectly motivates children who are weakly oriented in the history of the Soviet period. Having passed the path of his character in the game, the child ceases to perceive the events of the past as an abstraction. He emotionally passes them through himself, and memorization occurs naturally.

Of course, the game is not designed to work in the lesson. But it may well be used by the teacher in a circle or in an additional lesson.

The creators of the game promise that it will be finalized and improved, and also ask for forgiveness from everyone who did not have enough it. A new circulation is being prepared.